During the night between 4 and 5 November 2008 the MV Filicudi, owned by Augustea Due srl, was carrying out discharge operations, and was secured by anchors and by cables on five buoys. The weather became severe and the ship, now with only one cable still in place, hit the pier; at that stage the ship had no engine. Following a request by the master, three tugs rendered assistance to the Filicudi, namely the Liguria and the Anna Noli owned by Carmelo Noli srl and the Porto di Vado VI owned by Transmare srl.

Carmelo Noli srl sued Augustea Due, claiming a salvage award; no request was filed by Transmare. Carmelo Noli argued that, since no claim had been filed by Transamare, the entire compensation for the whole salvage operation should be awarded to Carmelo Noli.

The issue of joint liability between the owners of the vessel and the owners of the cargo for the salvage award was also considered.

In the first instance judgment, the Genoa Tribunal held that (i) Carmelo Noli was entitled to only 75% of the award for the whole salvage operation, corresponding to the proportional relevance of its activities and (ii) the owners of the Filicudi were jointly liable with the owners of the cargo for the salvage award payable to Carmelo Noli.

Held: The Genoa Court of Appeal found that art 15 of the 1989 Salvage Convention provides that the salvage award should be apportioned among salvors in proportion to their contribution; therefore, once the total award is assessed, each salvor is entitled only to its share; the fact that other salvors did not file a claim is irrelevant and does not imply an increase of the share of the award for those salvors who filed a claim.

The Court also found that art 13.2 of the 1989 Salvage Convention states that the award is to be paid by the owners of the salved goods in proportion to the respective values and this means that there cannot be a joint liability of the owners of vessel and cargo.